Reviews of Merce Hotel, Pineda De Mar, Spain

I don't usually write holiday...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

Your Holidays

Submitted By:

Miss M Hodgkinson

Comments:

I don't usually write holiday reviews but after seeing some of the awful comments about this hotel I couldn't resist - we had a lovely holiday.

We arrived at the hotel very late, but still got to our room very quickly. Would of been nice to have a balcony (most rooms do) but the room was nice and big; there were certainly no problems with cleanliness.

It wasn't too far from the beach- it took us about 5 minutes- and the beach was great. It may have been the time of year but there was always plenty of space. The sand was coarse, but this wasn't a problem at all, its better than the pebble beaches you get in a lot of resorts.

The food in the hotel was fine. There was a hot breakfast as well as the usual continental stuff and there was always plenty. Quality was ok, considering how much we paid, it was fine. Dinner was usually meat, potatoes and salad but there were some exciting things like paella and lasagne thrown in. Soup everyday as well. Again, the quality was fine for the cost, and I enjoyed every meal.

We would definitely recommend a trip to Barcelona, we had a lovely day and didn't spend too much. Also, there is an amazing (and cheap) cake/coffee shop next to the Hotel. Its called Bosch and everyone should try it- the cakes are delicious.

Overall we had a very nice holiday, Hotel Merce is great value for money. Its not pretending to be a 4 star hotel, but if you relax and don't expect massive luxury then you're bound to have a great time. We did!

A really good budget hotel....

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Full Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2008

Tour Operator:

sunsave

Submitted By:

Mrs J Hender

Comments:

A really good budget hotel. Basic rooms with satellite tv(bbc world & mtv only english channels and mtv mostly was german)Average food, always something to suit.Plenty of salad choices and a choice of hot food also from a help yourself basis.Staff were extremely friendly, especially Ivan Luis and Diego along with all the reception staff who all spoke good English.The roof terrace is great and has a small bar that serves snacks.The guy who works up there is very helpful.There is a church right opposite the Hotel which is lovely.It wasnt a problem at all with the bell ringing.Once you got used to it, you hardly heard it. They do stop at 12MN so they wont interfere with sleeping. Who goes to bed before midnight on holiday!?Theres entertainment at the Hotel and Discos a few nights a week downstairs. Internet access also with I think around 4 or 5 pcs just outside of the bar area. I would say about 15 minute walk to the beach but we preferred the roof terrace area.Plenty of shops bars and cafes dotted around.We were really pleased with our stay and thank Katie from Sunsave for highlighting it to me. Taxi from Girona was a little under 50Euros though!!-no bus in September but hey ho.

We were advised when booking the...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Lastminute

Submitted By:

Miss J Millward

Comments:

We were advised when booking the holiday it was on the beach this is a lie its at least a 15 minute walk to the beach.

Our transfer time was 3 hours not an hour and a half like advised.

When we entered our room it was room 409 on the 4th floor it was smelly dirty, we asked reception if we could move luckily they said yes otherwise it would have been a holiday from hell.

Food was horriable ate out all the time we was there.

We would return to the area however not to this hotel.

Staff were friendly and helpful.

There was a school trip of german students who took over the bar area and pool which was annoying.

Overall was an alright holiday.

My husband and I took our 4 year...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

On the Beach

Submitted By:

Mrs L.C Hickling

Comments:

My husband and I took our 4 year old grandson for a weeks holiday.

Thank god it was only 7 days as I think we would have been bankrupt and gone insane if it would have been any longer.

The only good thing about this holiday was the weather.

The flight ....which was Ryanair was an experience I would NEVER again want to go through. I didn't realise you have to RUN to get seats together. It doesn't matter if a 4 year old has to sit on their own during the flight. Luckily a kind woman moved so at least I could sit with him going.

On the journey back we literally ran across the runway to enable us to get seats together.

We were only allowed 15 KGS luggage allowance each and ABSOLUTELY NO POOLING.

We had to switch things around in the suitcases so we wouldn't have to pay the £12.00 excess per KGS over. Then had to go to the back of the queue to weigh in again.It cost us £64.00 for 2 suitcases. We have always had luggage included on other airlines.........BUT....not Ryanair.

I've also been told Easyjet has the exact same policy.......so that's another airline we will not be travelling with.

Well the Costa Brava................beatiful to look at, BUT if you want sand, then avoid the Costa Brava and go to the Costa Del Sun.

The sand is extemely course and hurts your feet to walk on it. If you put sandals on, then the small pebbles get inbetween them and your feet, so this is very uncomfortable and painful.

The steep slope across large rocks to get into the sea is not safe for small children.

We hired a car because we were so dissappointed with the beach at Pineda de mar only to find that the whole of the Costa Brava coast is the same course sand with this steep slope into the sea.

We did however find Santa Christina which was more sandy but.....still the steep slope down to the sea.

The Merce hotel..............food AWFUL. Milk warm, chips (when you got them) cold.

Infact ALL the food which should be hot, was COLD.

This is no surprise though as the servery was NEVER switched on. Also some food wasn't even in the servery, but just placed on the side.

We did complain to the manager after EVERY meal breakfast and evening meal.

He said no one else had complained, although this wasn't the case though as EVERYONE was complaining. English, Spanish. French, etc.

We were told to warm our food up in the FILTHY microwave that was there..................now why would there be a microwave?

Surely the food should be kept hot.

There was no fridge so the milk was VERY warm I don't really like warm milk on cerials, so after complaining the manager did have a carton of milk kept in a fridge for us personally for the last 2 mornings of our stay.........but, trying to explain this to the spanish speaking staff took around 20 mins.

Some food was TOTALLY unedible. I have thrown better food away than what they expected us to eat.

The majority of people ate out rather than trying to eat the TRASH they were serving up.

The bedding was however changed every day and so were the towels.

BUT, I was disgusted that the maid spent more time rummaging through our wardrobe and personal belongings than doing her cleaning duties.

She also used 25ml of my Channal perfume as air freshener to spray our room because of a bad sewer smell.

We didn't have air con.

The bannister was loose.

Would we ever go back?..........................what do you think?

NOT FOR A GOLD PIG.......................Would we recommend tiis hotel?........................

Only if I really hated someone enough to put them through HELL.

PINEDA IS A VERY NICE PLACE TO...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Sunmaster

Submitted By:

Mrs G Weatherer

Comments:

PINEDA IS A VERY NICE PLACE TO VISIT, EASILY ACCESSABLE FOR BARCELONA, CELLELA, SANTA SUZANNA ETC. HOTEL MERCE IS CLEAN BUT BASIC, STAFF WERE VERY FRIENDLY, BREAKFAST WAS ADEQUATE BUT EVENING MEAL WAS INEDABLE, THEREFORE HAD TO EAT OUT EACH EVENING. I WOULD ONLY RECOMMEND BED AND BREAKFAST. HOTEL ENTERTAINMENT IS QUITE POOR, ALSO IT ADVERTISES A VEGETABLE GARDEN WHERE THEY GROW THERE OWN VEGETABLES, BUT THEY DIDNT HAVE A GARDEN AT ALL. TRAINS RUN VERY REGULARLY TO BARCELONA, CELLELA, TOSSA DE MAR ETC.

We are family of 3 with 6 year...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Med Hotels

Submitted By:

Mrs K Langdon

Comments:

We are family of 3 with 6 year old daughter. This was a last minute break and we had a wonderful time. Hotel Merce is fantastic value for money. Very friendly and informed staff, spotlessly clean and comfortable. We enjoyed the pool and snack bar. Breakfast was good and I was pleased we had gone for B and B as the rest of the meals in the dining room looked rather greasy.

We were impressed with the entertainment which was lovely for our daughter as well as us. The church next to the hotel gave some character and we liked the bells chiming. Our room was air conditioned and kept clean and cool.

The reosrt is great for children and we really enjoyed the free activities on the beach such as the supervised childrens play area (including a foam party!) and the cayaks etc.

All in all a lovely relaxing and safe family holiday.

The Hotel was very friendly and...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Miss NJ Dinsdale

Comments:

The Hotel was very friendly and the staff did everything they could to help you. The roof top terrace was a nice when coming from the beach, beware though of flying umbrellas! It does get windy up there however it is a nice breeze just watch out for the sunburn. The food was good just stay away from the bacon and the sausages (not typically english) they had other food which was very nice pain au chocolate mmmm! There was a certain amount of noise but specifically from English people leaving and not thinking about others!

my friend and i aged 57 &65 have...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Lastminute

Submitted By:

Mrs M Williams

Comments:

my friend and i aged 57 &65 have just come back after having a lovely holidayat the hotel merce,there was a swimming pool and bar on the roof where we spent a lot of time, the views over spain from here were spactacular,the church is over the road and the bells ring every 15 minutes, but stop at midnight,they never bothered us.it is about 10 minute walk to the nearest shops,which there was plenty leading to tha beach another 5 minutes,the rooms are very small,make sure you have air con !took a long time to get from airport to hotel,because of picking up,very stricked at airport with weight of cases all in all a good holiday for us but not a place for teenagers,

I spent 5 nights at the Merce...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Goldensun

Submitted By:

Mr N HUGHES

Comments:

I spent 5 nights at the Merce Hotel with my partner and 3 year old child. We spent peanuts for the stay and in general it was extremely good value indeed - probably the best value hliday I`ve ever had.



Accomodaton: Very basic. Needs some attention. Some ants.But it is cleaned daily and sheets and towels changed.No air con. Quite noisy at night especially but we slept well.



Food: Yes the cooked breakfast isn`t great but there is plenty else to chose from including cereals and toast and pastries and cheese and ham. We never went hungry at breakfast. Dinner was good. They even did a brazing steak which was good. Drinks were a bit pricey though.

You can trade the dinner for a picnic which we did and it was a good scoff!



Pool: Small but the terrace catches the sun nicely. Terace bar very well run.



Pineda: Lovely smal, quiet town. No British yobs to be seen at all!! No decent cafes or restaurants and didn`t find a decent coffee house til the day we left! Beach is grainy but clean and fairly quiet.



Best bit? Very few Brits(in fact the only yobish behaviour we saw were a family of Brits giving the staff aggro for absolutely no good reason) and it wasn`t opressively hot....

Hi

We've just come...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Complete Holidays

Submitted By:

Mrs C Illsley

Comments:

Hi



We've just come back from our 1 week holiday staying at the Merce Hotel in Pineda De Mar. We had a great time. The hotel is a budget hotel about a 7 min walk to the beach. Pineda is lovely - not a place for clubbers but lovely if you want a quiet time. Plenty of excitement in Caella and St Susanna if that's what you want - both a 25 min walk along the coast or 5mins on the train.



The hotel is clean with a nice reception area and a pool on the roof with great views. We were there halfboard and the food is basic but we found it to be fresh and certainly plentiful. The staff are very sweet and can't do enough to help you.



Our room again was basic - but comfortable and clean and our maid came everyday with clean towels.



When we were there it was very European and there were some school parties but they were very well behaved. I don't recognise some of the negative reviews below.



This is a budget hotel so that's what you get - its not the Ritz but very pleasant and we had a fab time.



I would definitely go back if I wanted an easygoing, relatively cheap, beach holiday. We also went to Barcelona an hr away by train for 6 euros and the Dali Museum in Figueres an hr and a half away - I think 12 euros return. Both were great day's out.

my fiancee and i wanted to go on...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

Select

Submitted By:

Miss G Page

Comments:

my fiancee and i wanted to go on our first holiday together for both of our birthdays which were in the same week, what a disappointed holiday we had!

On arrival at the hotel it was 2am our flight had been late, we were both tired and wanted to get to bed but there was no one at the reception desk just a note saying back in 5 minutes, we waited much longer!!

The food was terrible we were on half board but ended up eating out most nights, if u werent down at half 7 on the dot and arrived any later than 8 ther was no food left!

The breakfast was just disgusting mouldy bread and eggs dripping with more fat than a bottle of oil!

Ilost my expensive watch well i say lost i knew exactly where it was but i wasnt allowed to get it as the pool are was closed and wouldnt re open until 10 am the next morning.

and i was leaving the hotel at 6am to fly home but they stil wouldnt allow me to get it.

Two girls had the room robbed while we were there, had all thier money taken and the hotel said it wasnt thier problem but said they were allowed 1 drink each per day, how was that supposed to keep them hydrated in 30 degree heat?? thank god for the amazing bar staff who kept us all happy and entertained or i think i would have gone home! i wont be going there again there is nothing to do in the town so young people stay away! constant noise from the builders next door and kids letting off fireworks day and night!

We found the hotel accommodation...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

Coop Travel

Submitted By:

Ms I Pennington

Comments:

We found the hotel accommodation to be basic, clean and spacious. Our booking was on a bed and breakfast basis.



The breakfast was plentiful but beware if you expect any other than the poorly cooked English breakfast of fried egg floating in a sea of oil and fatty poorly cooked bacon with small German chipolata. The continental and cereal choice was plentiful and adequate.



For the evening meal we were directed by reception to the hotel's Taverna restaurant at the rear of the hotel which is large, well laid out and appeared to be of quality and reasonably priced. If Spanish is not spoken, as in our case it wasn't, then beware on two counts:



1. The waiter did not understand that my wife's selection was different from mine and had to be recalled to rectify this.



2. When my chicken was served it clearly had not been defrosted properly and in consequence was leaking blood at the bone areas. Having noticed one portion the waiter took it back and re-grilled it only for me to find that the remainder of the meat was in the same condition. The waiter did not apologise but merely got angry and waived his hands around in despair. There was no concession on the bill and the full amount had to paid. Contesting this was futile due to the language barrier. I saw no one in the kitchen and assumed that due to an early meal being taken, the chefs were engaged in the main meals being taken in the hotel dining room.



I did make my views known to the reception manager who said he would take the matter up with the Taverna restaurant but achieved no satisfaction.



My advice therefore is BEWARE OF EATING IN THE LE TAVERNA RESTAURANT and ENGLISH BREAKFASTS AT THIS HOTEL.



Apart from these incidents we have no other complaints.

My wife and i had a three day...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr J SHARP

Comments:

My wife and i had a three day break at the Merce hotel, just got back. We found the reception staff to be very friendly and very helpful..our room was basic,but clean, towels changed every day, and the bed made every day. Bar prices were reasonable, and bar staff ok. Smoking is allowed in the bar. Lots of youngsters,making noises..as they do,but not to late. NOW for the bad news..the food was terrible!! Worst ever for us...hence our 50-50 rating. At most..bed and break., if you must !!(the bread was sometimes mouldy, we could go on)...We suggest eat out.

Just returned from the merce the...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

Bed & Breakfast

Date of Holiday:

May 2008

Tour Operator:

Alpha Rooms

Submitted By:

Miss Cj Jenkinson

Comments:

Just returned from the merce the staff were very friendly and helpful.The annoying thing was the room size and church bells ringing every 15 minutes which was no good when you wanted a siesta.The walk to the beach was about 20 minutes and across the train lines.Spent most of our time in calella as the nightlife was pretty basic.Didnt try the breakfast as people were saying it was to greasy and kids running around when eating.The hotel is more for school groups as there is a games room for the kids.Wont be going back.

We were delighted with the older...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

May 2008

Tour Operator:

Teletext

Submitted By:

Mrs D Hudson

Comments:

We were delighted with the older part of Pineda de Mar.We chose Hotel Merce because the reviews we read said it was suitable for more mature guests and couples.This is not true as they take teenage school parties whose behaviour was terrible.Playing football in corridors,loud music from rooms and much running between rooms this went on until 4a.m. on one night and was after midnight on other occasions.The hotel staff did their best but it was impossible to control and the teachers were out of the hotel! This apart it would have been a lovely holiday as the Hotel staff were helpful and the two star rating was right for the food provision.Although we did have chicken 4 times out of the seven nights we were there.One of the other nights it was beefburgers or fish fingers probably for the school party but some of the other guests were not happy with the food. We would visit Pineda de Mar again but definitely not the Merce Hotel.